Money and Business: The US National Debt Milestone

The last week has been significant in terms of the US National Debt – now passing the $12 trillion USD mark. This means that over $39,000 USD is owed for every man woman and child in America or more than $110,000 USD per tax payer.

Since President Obama came to power the US national debt has increased by more than $1.6 trillion USD. The National Debt increased by more than $5 trillion USD during the George W Bush Presidency and debt servicing costs are set to soar as interest rates increase around the World. In fact it is estimated that the United States will need to pay one third of all tax revenue in the coming 5 years just to service the National Debt.

If the Health Care Reforms are passed by Congress the National Debt is estimated to increase by a further $1 trillion USD. Private Debt in the United States is closing in on $17 trillion USD, with almost $14.3 trillion USD of that in the form of Mortgage Debt.

Total National Assets are estimated to be around $75 trillion USD, with UNFUNDED liabilities of more than $106 trillion USD.

So what does all of this mean? Politicians are terrified to make decisions which would be unpopular – things like spending cuts and increased taxes. These things seem to be indefinitely put off however the problem while ignored is not going away.